Man jailed for making woman have sex with strangers
Prosecutors said more than 100 men were involved in the abuse which was photographed and filmed by Rodney Johnston
- Published
A man who coerced a woman into having sex with more than 100 strangers over three decades has been jailed for a minimum term of 16 years.
Rodney Johnston threatened the woman if she did not comply with his demands to engage in a range of sex acts with men at secluded countryside locations as well as in cars and in hotels, the court has heard.
The 67-year-old, from Starston in Norfolk, was found guilty after a trial in September, which also heard he photographed and filmed the abuse.
Sentencing him to life in prison at Norwich Crown Court, Judge Alice Robinson said the victim's impact statement was "harrowing" and showed "the severe and lifelong impact" of the abuse.
Police found some 30,000 images and videos documenting the abuse.
The court heard the coercion involved physical and verbal threats.
'Rape in all but name'
The judge said the victim was forced to "go out" several times a week.
"Going out became a byword for her being raped by strangers. This is rape in all but name," said the judge.
Robinson said she believed Johnston would remain a danger to the victim for the rest of his life.
In a police statement released after sentencing, the woman said she had been left feeling "used" and "terrified" by the abuse.
She said: "I had no voice, no choice.
"I feel anxious about the future, but for the first time in decades I am free."
Johnston was found guilty of multiple offences dating between 1994 and 2024, including:
three counts of procuring a woman to have sexual intercourse by threats or intimidation
two counts of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent
one count of intimidation of a witness
Throughout the seven-week trial, Johnston denied all the charges and claimed the acts were consensual.
However, police said evidence proved the woman's account that she was not a willing participant and had been coerced and exploited.
He made connections through adult social networks and sent out bulk text messages to advertise times and places where men could have sex with the woman.
Norfolk Police said he claimed many of these messages were him living out "a fantasy" and dismissed them as "banter".
However, thousands of other messages and images, including messages the victim sent to a friend detailing the abuse, supported her account, detectives said.
In a statement, the victim said Johnston "took her out" up to five nights a week to hotels or outdoor locations, despite insisting she did not want to go.
She said she was disgusted afterwards and was threatened or punished if Johnston felt she was not being co-operative.
'Disturbing abuse'
Police said Johnston caused further distress to his victim when he broke the conditions of his bail, following his arrest in July 2024.
Senior investigating officer Duncan Woodhams said the sentence was "the result of painstaking work due to the sheer volume of evidence involved, and of course the courage of the victim telling us about what she endured".
"We're grateful for her trust in us, allowing us to present the full scale of Johnston's prolonged, disturbing and truly awful abuse," he said.
"Our focus will now shift to establishing if any further offences have been committed and if so we'll conduct a thorough investigation to identify those responsible and do everything we can to bring them to justice."
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